Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham
Opening Statement:
First thing, congratulations to volleyball. Big win over Stanford, sweeping Stanford and then I believe 21 and three on the year. Unbelievable job they’ve done.
On The positives of Saturdays' victory:
I think situational football in terms of winning the situations was something that they realized how big it was. When you look at the game, there were no turnovers in the game, but we had 11 possessions versus there nine. How do you create plus two possessions in a game with no turnovers? You win the second quarter. Then you end the game with the ball in your hands in a four minute drill and to be able to do that and gain a possession in a half because the one possession ended because of time. To be able to gain that time, I think those guys are buying into situational football wins and for them to see that, I think it just makes them more focused on those areas of practice and how valuable they can be.
On the success of the third-down conversions:
For lack of a better term, they made some plays. I thought Trenton (Bourguet) extended a play really nicely to Giovanni (Sanders) on basically a runaway post, cross-man, and that was a huge play in the game. I thought we ran the ball well. I thought our guys just executed at a higher level. I don't think there was a secret sauce. I just think we literally just ran everything correct and we executed and then the guys made plays. That was the most plays we've made. I mean, tight ends, making contested catches, extending plays. I mean we made a lot of plays.
On the offensive line success and facing Utah’s defensive line:
Obviously, our offensive line has battled this year. With Joey (Ramos) and Leif (Fautanu) kind of being the core of that unit, they've just shown grit the entire year and they've just brought people along, Cade Briggs battling through things. So I think those guys have just been fighting and fighting and fighting and working and working and working and getting better and better and better together. I think it showed off and I think just the last play of the game, you know, it seems to be essentially blitz zero and you can run a split flow zone and create enough movement off of it to get a third and seven. I think that's a testament to those guys and the work they put in, the film study that's put in, and the resilience. In terms of Utah, this is the culture that we want, that I envision here. They are the program that I envision hopefully having here, a coach who has been there for 19 years, who's built it up, who's established physicality in the program and toughness. That's what we're trying to build here. So this is the gold standard in the league, in my opinion, for what a program should look like and should feel like. It starts with stopping the run and running the football with them. I think any elite program, which I consider Utah an elite program with the coach there and what they've done, has that physicality up front and they have that. I've been talking to our guys about this game for a long time, showing clips of what it takes to win at this level, at a high level. And I've been using Utah as the example.
On if Washington State should be in a Power-5:
“I have no clue, I’m worried about us. That’s a good question, that’s a fair question, I’m the worst person to ask. I’m a very, very focused individual, I’m all about us. I do think coach Dickert there has done a phenomenal job, I think their team plays hard for him. I think they’re well-coached, so got a lot of respect for coach Dickert.”
On taking anything away from Oregon’s win vs. Utah this past weekend:
“I think when you watch them (Oregon), I kind of know some of the why they’re checking things and I can see have they checked four vertical angles to fill two trap. On Utah, the same thing we did versus Utah last year, there’s scored ours didn’t. So to see some carry over there is good, but it’s also a negative because they know that’s what we would’ve checked too because they watch us play last year, they see them play again. So they say okay, well what’s ASU gonna do if they get this same picture, they’re going to do the same thing. So maybe they gotta be more creative with their disguises or change some things up, so it’s a blessing in some ways, it’s a curse in other ways because they know there are some similarities to those game plans who are a little bit different honestly and we’re adapting and changing. But the core of who we are is still going to be similar.”
On the preparation that went into the success of the offensive line:
“We’ve been doing perimeter blocking period three, first offensive period of practice for the last three weeks. Last week versus Washington, we were atrocious of the assignment at it and I really challenger the guys that these are plays, these are extended runs if we want free touches. If we want to get the ball in our playmaker’s hands, we have to have an identity that we’re gonna be able to do this. I think it’s a testament to the the guys really buying in, really believing in it. Like I told them today, Utah is one of the most aggressive and violent teams defending perimeter runs in the country because what they do defensively. They are violent and you better if you get into a stack or bunch and someone presses you, you better set you jaw because that dude’s gonna try to put your butt in the ground. So it’s a great challenge for us to see where our physicality stands because this football team’s identity is physicality and they’ve had 19 years to establish it.”
On learning from the losses and the values from that:
“I think anytime you create calluses, they’re there forever. So when you can play well and get better and not get the release or the happiness that you want from it instantaneously, it calluses your hands. Those calluses eventually come back to be a positive for you and I think slowly we’re going to keep building calluses as we won one game. Let’s relax, we’re going to continue to get better. That’s the challenge every single week, every single game doesn’t matter if we would have won the prior four that we could have won or we would have lost last week. We would be sitting there today doing the exact same thing, I would’ve been talking through the exact same plays with the players, going through the exact same process of the game plan, there’s really no difference. But Saturday night was more fun, it’s the only difference that I view.”
On the lessons he’s learned as a first-year head coach this season:
“I would say be prepared for the un-preparable. What I mean by that is worst case scenario situations that you couldn't even imagine you should make sure you have a plan for at least talked about, like the Washington game would be an example of that and then really try to put your players in game like situations even more. We've been banged up so we've taken stuff off the players for a stretch of time and, the last couple of weeks we've actually done more good versus good versus another, even with the injuries. We've stayed healthier through those and we played better. It’s a good learning experience for me that, just because people are dinged up doesn't mean you can become soft. We gotta keep doing good on good work, we gotta keep improving, keep getting better and don't let your circumstance, always dictate, how you're practicing what your outcome is.”
On adapting to Utah’s defense:
“They are good bottom line. They've got a really good defense, they're very aggressive, they challenge you almost every snap, very similar mindset that we have here defensively in terms of we're going to attack and we're not just gonna let you go up and down the field with easy completions. That's why they've been so good for so long. They have good players and they have a head coach with the mindset that, we're gonna challenge and be aggressive. I think it's a great challenge for our guys. We're gonna have to be different this week than we were last week because it's different personnel we're facing. To think we're just gonna say, let's just do the same thing again. It's absolutely ludicrous because we're facing a completely different team, completely different talents, skill sets, and a completely different philosophy on how to play defense. Even though they're both aggressive, they're still way different in terms of how they're aggressive.”
On playing in a hostile environment in Utah
“Practice. We went in the bubble, I mean, we made ourselves deaf for five days essentially. That is the only way to prepare is to practice. We go in the bubble, we play their fight song and we play crowd noise as loud as you possibly can till your ears ring. You put your coaches on the sideline and make them get reps like it's a game and you have to simulate the game if you want to operate in the game. Hopefully we can be one play better on the road, one timing better on the road, one detail better, in critical moments. But how do you operate when the crowd is cheering, when it's fourth down, when it's third down, when it's super loud, when all the pressure is mounting and you're on the road and everything is against you. Can you line up and say alignment assignment, footwork and then the ball is snapped. Then you go do it and that's really the challenge.”
On the differences in Utah’s defensive scheme:
“They're very pro style. They match people. If we were in 30 personnel, they were putting that line back on the field. 32 they're gonna take corner off, they match people. This is a man game, bottom line. That's why they're good on defense. If you put in a fast guy, they put in a fast guy, you put in a big guy, they put in a big guy. It's a very NFL mindset. They don't play as much with the hybrid nickel who can cover and also tackle the runs. They can be versatile. They put the players in the field to match your players and they say we're gonna do what you want to do better than you. Put a big guy we're gonna hit better than you. You put a small guy, we're gonna run better than you. We're gonna do that with, in my opinion, a really good scheme, a really creative scheme that changes minutely. But, that's what they do. They make minor changes to what they do, but they do it at a really effective rate.”
On finding any advantages against Utah:
“You just see if there’s something that is a positive for us, whether if its a personnel package, whether if its a formation or tendencies. Just like you do every week. Most teams have the same mindset. Teams that obviously play more man and match more man have more of this philosophy to match people rather than teams who are more zone based on first down. So because they’re a solid amount of man-based, on first down, you’re going to get more matching of the people versus a team that plays more zone.”
On any prior interaction with Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham:
“Yes I told him at our Pac-12 Media Day that you’re kind of what I want this (ASU) program to be. You’re the build, and how you stayed there through all the other opportunities. The culture that you’ve established, the physicality and toughness is what I believe is necessary to win. And I told him I have a lot of respect for him and that he is one of the best coaches in the country. One of the most underrated coaches in the country. I think he made a choice to stay at a palace and build it and do it the right way and I couldn’t have more respect for him as a football coach and as a person. I’m not nearly as cool as him, I guess he rides a Harley around, i mean he’s embodies what college football is supposed to be about and I’m envious of him and I hope I can have the career that he has, has had and is having.”
On playing in the cold in Utah:
“It's still 75 and beautiful out here so it's hard to prepare. I would say the negative of having perfect weather right now, for all those recruits who are listening, perfect weather of 75 and sunny is harder to prepare for cold weather climates, so, you know, the good comes with the bad.”
On the personnel of tight ends against Utah
"Not as much as I've done in years past. I go back to my history and a lot of 12 or 13 open sets and moving guys around, I haven't done as much of that. It’s just not what I think is best for us right now. It could be this week based off what they do, it could not be. It just depends as we continue to watch the tape. I think the key when you play games like this is just to find matchups if your best matchup is a corner on a wide out, then great. If your best matchup is your third receiver on a nickel or a safety, then great. If your best matchup is the 10 on the nickel, then great. Tail back on the linebacker, then great. It's truly a matchup game and these games are truly about moves. There's not really a special sauce to winning these games other than be physical.”
On the injuries:
“No, maybe Bram (Walden), but I doubt it. So I would say we're about the same as we were last week. Macen Williams maybe. I would assume he's still out. It would be impressive to get him back but I doubt that he comes back. We'll find out more Tuesday, but I would doubt that he returns.”